Co-winner of the 2023 W.H. Oliver Prize
Co-winner of the 2023 Ernest Scott Prize
'It is timely that Buchanan has produced a book that is alive to exciting and innovative kinds of historiography. … Te Motunui Epa offers much inspiration for new ways of writing and engaging history that are grounded in the racial and political realities of Aotearoa.' – Liana Macdonald, New Zealand Journal of History
'[Te Motunui Epa] features smuggling and kidnapping, the worlds of Taranaki Maori mingling with high finance, diplomacy, and international law. It’s a swashbuckling tale, and Buchanan tells it so well. Archival research and oral history meld with a unique form of storytelling wherein she gives voice to the Epa—the panels themselves. ... Her juxtaposition of such different voices allows pace and verve and wit to sit alongside an aching sense of loss.' – Martin Fisher and Jonathan West, New Zealand Historical Association
'Buchanan’s writing manages to be poetic, emotionally charged and academically rigorous at once, while maintaining the intrigue of a thriller … There is a broad readership for this book due to the care with which it has been constructed, its design is stellar, and the copious accompanying images are fascinating. Highly recommended.' – Jane Arthur, The Dominion Post
'Not so much a book as a cornucopia – [Te Motunui Epa] is a rich assemblage of various kinds of narrative ... Buchanan has marshalled her material into prose that frequently manages to be lyrical and economical at the same time but nearly always maintains narrative drive and suspense.' – North & South
‘Te Motunui Epa is well researched and well told. For Ngāti Rāhiri, the journey related here brings up feelings of pain as well as joy and pride. We can marvel at the ongoing mana and wairua of these taonga and in this book everyone can share in their extraordinary journey.’ – Peter Priest, Chairman, Ngāti Rāhiri Hapū o Te Ātiawa Management Committee
‘Te Motunui Epa is not only an insight into the carved panels that came home in 2015. This book illuminates the rich archive of taonga records that Rachel excavated to present this complex kōrero tuku iho from the perspective of a Taranaki woman. What a precious connection point, now and in the future, to our taonga.’ – Honiana Love, Tumu Whakarae/Chief Executive, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
'Taonga are deeply embedded in our Māori world, connecting the past to our present and future. Te Motunui Epa is deep in research and has a beauty that reads from the perspective of a tribal descendant. The journey for their return is a celebration of history, connection, mana and identity. Mauriora ki te whai-ao, ki te ao mārama!' – Dr Arapata Hakiwai, Kaihautū (Māori Co-Leader), Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
'There is an intimacy in every word used in Te Motunui Epa, and a closeness to a history that is so immense and captivating. This book is a literary expression of whakapapa: profound in mātauranga, aroha and connection, as well as the legacy of hurt and pain.' – Matariki Williams, curator, historian, writer and editor
'Rachel Buchanan is a consummate storyteller who uses her skills as an archivist and her deep attachment to her subject as the basis for a new situated history, one that has the momentum of a detective story and the pathos of a lament. This book touches on cultural, historical, legal, and political matters that far exceed the circumstances she describes. It will be a touchstone for iwi, historians, policy makers and museum professionals, or anyone wishing to revisit our complex and troubled past.' – Christina Barton, Director, Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery
'This extraordinary story of the Motunui epa, from their unearthing in 1971 to their many legal and illegal adventures abroad, to their homecoming in 2014, draws heavily on archival material, including newly released government records, many of which are beautifully reproduced in the book.' – Anna Knox, Heritage NZ
'Dr Rachel Buchanan discusses how unearthing the government records has changed the way she works as a historian, taking her much closer to the power of the underground and the sovereignty that exists, undiminished beneath our feet.' – New Zealand History
'Te Motunui Epa is a brilliant account of how five carved panels that were smuggled out of New Zealand were recovered after a long struggle and prompted major reassessments in official attitudes towards preserving Indigenous artefacts.' – Philip Cass, Pacific Journalism Review
'Rachel Buchanan gives us copies of documents from a fascinating historical record, comprising both government and personal papers. It is a record that unwinds, at the hands of a skilled storyteller, to show the ways in which, through ongoing litigation, legislation, treaties, diplomacy and negotiation – and ultimately through the perseverance of officials led by the then Minister and Attorney-General, Chris Finlayson – the epa came home. Readers will leave this work with a sense of enrichment.' – Paul Radich KC, At The Bar
'By letting her ancestors take charge, [Buchanan has] produced a book that is both substantial and mesmerising.' – Connie Buchanan, E-Tangata
'Buchanan is a Taranaki wahine; this is her tūranagawaewae and mana whenua, and that brings an essential perspective to this story. Her deep spiritual connection to her subject through her whakapapa is palpable. This has clearly been a journey for her, with more than a few bumps on the way. It’s a homecoming for Buchanan as much as it was for the panels, the tupuna, and this book is every bit a taonga as the Motunui Epa themselves.' – Andrew Paul Wood, Landfall Tauraka Review
'A compelling story that involves skullduggery and theft and greed and it is written with the eye of a writer who thinks like a poet.' – Susanna Andrew, Woman+
'A really clever, playful writing style that really works... [Buchanan maps out] a whole change in how taonga are actually seen.' – Paul Diamond, RNZ Nine to Noon
'The story of Te Motunui Epa has been brought to life by Dr Rachel Buchanan of Taranaki and Te Ātiawa and it retraces the remarkable journey of these taonga and their impact on the world.' – Oriini Kaipara, The Hui
'Rather than a conventional history treatise, in Te Motunui Epa, author Dr Rachel Buchanan tells the panels' story through they eyes of the taonga itself.' – Robin Martin, Radio New Zealand
'This book will come as a revelation. It’s beautifully designed and realised. Judge this book by its lovely cover. In her account of a lost and retrieved treasure, Buchanan has herself created a taonga.' – Jonathan Barrett, The Conversation
'Author Rachel Buchanan's new book, Te Motunui Epa, examines how these five interconnected carved panels have journeyed across the world and changed practices, understanding and international law on the protection and repatriation of stolen cultural treasures.' – Julian Wilcox, RNZ Māpuna
'Breathing life into a story some might have assumed ended once carvings illegally smuggled out of Aotearoa returned to their rightful home was a mission Dr Rachel Buchanan felt compelled to take on.' – Deena Coster, Stuff
'For more than a century, this sacred treasure was hidden in a New Zealand swamp before being spirited away to Europe. This is how it was returned.' – ABC News
Read 'Under the Mountain' in New Zealand Geographic
Read 'Book Extract from Te Motunui Epa' in Woman+
Read 'George Ortiz and the Motunui epa' in E-Tangata
Listen to 'The Score with Samira Farah', Samira Farah, Triple R
Listen to 'The mystery of the travelling Taranaki panels', Richard Fidler, ABC
Listen to 'Story on carved tōtara panels translated to the page' on RNZ Morning Report
